


Remember me

by SSilverScaly



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternative Universe - Youkai, But the first thing i post, Human!Oikawa, Im not smart, It made me cry when i wrote it, M/M, Youkai!Iwaizumi, this is old as hell, youkai AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25300009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SSilverScaly/pseuds/SSilverScaly
Summary: A wolf spirit lets his curiosity drive him when he meets a young human boy
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	Remember me

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> So, this thing is old. 2016 old. I wrote it originally for a school writing assigment, hence the use of only first names. A classmate read it and started crying in the middle of class, so i think that was a good sign? I was going to translate it to english for a friend and they convinced me to upload it instead.  
> I hope you like it and don't hate me if it makes you cry <'3!

The first time he saw him was a coincidence. He was walking near the edge of the forest when a round object caught his attention. He followed it with his eyes, seeing how it bounced against the roots of a tree and then remained still. A few seconds later the sound of footsteps made him hide among the vegetation, hiding himself from the new presence. His heightened senses guessed what it was long before it entered his field of vision.

A small boy approached the object, taking it in his hands. His light brown hair, brushed to one side, moved with the action, and his eyes curiously scanned his surroundings. What was a human infant doing there? Although it was true that there was a small town nearby, it was uncommon for people to approach. The mountain and its forest, inhabited by the youkai, were sacred to them. Or so it had been more than a thousand years ago when mystical beings were feared and respected. Now they were just part of old books and stories to entertain or scare. However, there were still some communities that believed in them; and that’s why seeing that child was so strange to him, since no one had approached the forest for years. 

Comparing his large size with the boy, it was clear that if he went out and revealed himself he would end up scaring him. A wolf spirit was intimidating, with its dark fur, fangs, and claws, as well as being way bigger than normal animals. He remained hidden, with his eyes still locked on the little one, until he decided to leave the forest. He probably wouldn't see him again.

With that thought, he walked through the trees. 

\------------------------------------

To his surprise, it was the next day when he found him again. Curiosity had led him to return to the limits of the forest, from where he could see the boy playing with that circular object, lifting it with the palm of his hands over and over again. It was not strange that in a wrong movement the object went towards the trees, getting lost among them, and he boy wasted no time running after it.

His speed gave him the advantage of reaching it first, finding the object easily. An idea crossed his mind and before thinking twice his vision changed height and his new human hands reached out to lift it off the ground. When the boy finally found him, instead of seeing a huge black wolf, he found a boy his age, with tousled dark hair and green eyes. He got a confused look, which then moved to what his hands were holding.

“That ball is mine.” He said, pointing a finger at it. So that's what that round thing was called. He turned it between his palms, then threw it at the other. "Thanks ..." The boy seemed to think of something, while his eyes were fixed on the ball. -”Do you want to play with me?” He asked, looking up at him. There was loneliness in his eyes, and that made him realize that no one had accompanied the boy, not the day before, not now.

"Sure." he replied as the most logical part of his head started yelling at him that maybe that wasn't a good idea, but that was the first time he ignored his instincts. The boy smiled widely upon hearing it.

“Great!” He exclaimed, then turned around and started walking to get out of the forest. “I’m Tooru, by the way.” He continued, turning his head to see that the other boy was following him.

“Hajime...”

That was the first time he interacted with a human.

\------------------------------------

Months later, meeting had become a routine. Tooru never asked why they could only see each other on the mountain, and Hajime's secret was not revealed.

In that time he learned about the human world, but more than that, he learned about that kid. He was childish, somewhat annoying and a bit of a crybaby. But he also found a sensitive and dreamy little boy behind that facet. He learned that Tooru was six years old, that he had an older sister, that his favorite food was milk bread, and many other things that the boy seemed to love to tell over and over again. And although Hajime did get angry from time to time with the other's attitude, he never missed an opportunity to spend time with his new friend, a word that Tooru often used to address him.

It was the wolf spirit’s first friendship.

\------------------------------------

Four years went by. Hajime had to adapt his human form to the natural growth of people so as not to raise suspicions. Despite the time, he and Tooru were still friends.

The human was unable to go visit so often because of school, so the wolf spent less time at the edges, roaming the forest instead. On several occasions he came across other youkai, who seemed to have discovered his relationship with the boy.

“It will bring you pain.” They said as a warning, when only a few months had passed since their first meeting.

“A human is not capable of causing that to youkai.” Replied the spirit.

“Get away from him before it's too late.” They warned him again. A year had already passed.

“I see no reason to be afraid.” The wolf replied.

“You won’t be able to walk away.” They sentenced the last time he saw them.

“I'm just curious. When i’m satisfied, it will be over.” Hajime told them, and those words sounded like lies.

Lies he learned to tell for Tooru.

Lies that were human.

Lies that maybe he tried to believe.

\------------------------------------

"Am I the only person you talk to, Hajime?" The chestnut said in a mocking tone, sitting between the roots of a tree with his back resting on the trunk. The boy had grown, now sixteen, getting taller and with more adult features. But he still had that childish way of acting. “I don't see you anywhere other than on this mountain.”

“Shut up Tooru.” The other snapped, standing a few meters away. His brow was furrowed slightly, a common expression around his friend. Now that the human was older, Hajime saw no problem spending time within the forest itself instead of just at the forest limits. "You never cared about that. Why are you bringing it up now?”

“I'm not stupid.” Tooru's voice suddenly turned serious, causing the wolf to raise an eyebrow in his direction. "Unless you tell me you have a hidden house around here, I see no possible explanation." The teenager's brown eyes locked on Hajime, who dodged them b looking at the ground.

“You don't need to know.” He answered. His instincts told him to end the conversation. "It is not important ..." he walked to the tree where his friend was sitting, continuing past him and hiding on the other side of the trunk. “You should go back home.” He added, even knowing that the sun had several hours left before going down.

“Hajime.” Tooru called, and his calm but demanding tone rang in the ears of the spirit, who didn’t answer. Seconds later he heard a sigh from the human. "Whatever it is, nothing will change between us. You know it, right?”

He could have left without saying anything. Ignore it and avoid the subject. But the sincerity he recognized in Tooru's words, which he had learned to differentiate from lies, stopped his feet. He couldn't help but remember the warnings from the other youkai. He realized that he couldn't continue to believe his own lies.

Long seconds passed, perhaps minutes, in which neither said anything nor moved from their places.

“Tooru.” The spirit broke the silence, then walked around the tree until he was in front of the human. "Just ... close your eyes for a few seconds, okay?" He asked. A small part of his mind told him that he could still run away, but he ignored it when his friend nodded his head.

In just the blink of an eye, the person in front of Tooru disappeared, leaving in his place a huge black wolf. The chestnut's eyes filled with astonishment, and he remained silent for so long that Hajime started to fear that he had made a mistake in showing his true form. But a slight chuckle escaped from the human's lips, accompanied by a smile. The wolf felt a hand rest on the side of its head. 

“So it wasn’t important, huh?”

Others may have say that what Hajime did was crazy, but he never regretted his decision.

\------------------------------------

_ "It will bring you pain" _

It was when Tooru turned eighteen that the wolf understood what that meant. 

With that age came the end of his school years and the start adulthood. And although Hajime had seen him grow, it was a conversation that took place that day that finally made him realize that, while Tooru was growing up, time didn't pass for him. 

“Hajime, how many years have you lived in this forest?” He had asked him. They were lying on the grass in one of the many clearings in the forest that the wolf had discovered. They had been silent, simply relaxing. Ever since Hajime had revealed his identity, the human had put a lot of curiosity into the world of the youkai, until they had finally reached the matter of the age of the spirits.

"I don't know exactly ..." Hajime replied thoughtfully. "It's been over a thousand years ..." The sound of his friend moving catched the youkai’s attention, causing him to turn his head a little to look at him. Tooru had settled to lean on his side, facing Hajime. He rested his chin on the palm of his hand, keeping his arm up with his elbow. The sadness on his face didn’t go unnoticed by the wolf, although he tried to hide it with a false smile. “Tooru…”

“And to think that for me these thirteen years have been so long.” The chestnut commented, avoiding the gaze of his friend. “To you they are like a blink, right? ... The life of humans is very short compared to yours.”

Hajime suddenly straightened up, never taking his eyes off the teenager. His brow was furrowed.

“It's not just a blink!” He exclaimed, startling Tooru. “They are not… Maybe they were at the beginning, but that doesn’t mean that they are worthless just because I lived more than a thousand years… They are the most important thing, Tooru…”

He had barely finished speaking when he felt two arms surround him, making him fall on his back by the impulse. He soon heard the sobs coming from his friend, who buried his face on Hajime's shoulder.

“Even when I'm not here” He stammered from crying. “Could you not forget me?”

He didn’t know if it was the words, the atmosphere of the moment or the fact that he imagined Tooru would disappear, but he felt his own eyes get wet, letting out tears as he hugged the chestnut tightly.

“I promise.” He managed to say between sobs. "I promise, Tooru.”

They stayed that way for what seemed like hours, holding each other. That was the first time Hajime had cried.

When they finally pulled back far enough to look at each other's faces, Tooru leaned his forehead against the wolf's, causing the tears to fall and mix with those that came out of the green eyes, while taking the face of the another in his hands. And his voice sounded desperate as he repeated the same words over and over again, and Hajime felt a lump in his throat upon hearing them.

“I love you, Hajime, I love you.” He said almost fearfully, as if the spirit was going to disappear at any moment. The youkai tightened his hold on the teenager, and when their lips met he wondered why he had not noticed the love he had for that human until then.

But from that moment he knew it. He knew he was capable of loving him even if it hurt, despite knowing that sooner or later Tooru's human nature would rip him from his side.

That day, for the first time in his life, Hajime cursed the fact of being a youkai.

\------------------------------------

The years continued to go by, and both did their best to enjoy the time they had left, uncertain, but that would eventually reach an end. Not a day went by without Tooru visiting the youkai, who always waited for him outside the forest. The human had told him that rumors about his visits to the mountain were beginning to grow in his town, and that it was better that he wasn’t seen. Luckily, his secret was never discovered.

Through time, Hajime witnessed the chestnut grow and, little by little, his strength disappeared. They both knew it would all be over, so they tried to make the moments together worthwhile, and the youkai did his best to record each one in his mind.

Until, one night, Hajime knew that the end was near. Seventy-five years had passed since he had first met Tooru, and he knew that the man was at his limit.

Using the darkness to his advantage, the wolf emerged from the forest, towards the town. He searched until he found the human's house, careful not to be seen. Apparently Tooru had also sensed that his time was running out, since he found him outside the house, as if waiting for him. Without exchanging words, Hajime carried the man on his back and returned to the mountain. The walk through the trees was long, in which both began to recall old memories, trying to extend their last moments. The youkai felt the human’s breath on his fur, which was slow. Too slow. When they reached a certain familiar clearing, Hajime carefully placed the human on the ground, then allowed him to lean against his body, practically surrounding Tooru with his huge wolf form.

"This is all, Hajime…" Tooru's voice sounded tired, weak, and it caused pain in the youkai's heart to hear it. "Was it worth it? ..." he asked, relaxing against Hajime, looking into his green eyes.

”Every second.” He answered in all sincerity. A smile crept onto the human's face, as he closed his eyes.

“Well said ... I hope you don't forget your promise.” Tooru let out a small laugh.

“Fool, i never would.” His voice began to sound ragged, noticing how the human's breathing was getting weaker. He rested his head on his lap. He felt those familiar hands caress his fur, reminding him of similar and more joyous moments. His eyes were wet, and he knew that at any moment he would be unable to hold back his tears. 

The silence stretched for long minutes, in which Hajime concentrated only on feeling the human's chest rise and fall, wishing internally that he could do something to keep it that way forever.

Images from all the years since he met Tooru flashed through his mind. Despite having lived for a millennia, it had never felt like living until before he found him. Tooru had taught him what joy, sadness, anger, loneliness, pain and love felt like. He had taught him what it was to be human. And it was possible that a small part of the youkai was, by now.

“I love you.” He whispered, breaking the silence, and feeling the tears escape from his eyes. Many legends spoke of how demons and spirits could steal or curse people's souls. But Tooru had been able to catch his. And he would take a part of it when his counter hit zero. "It was all worth it ... and i would choose to live everything again..." Hajime knew that human lives ended at some point, that nothing could reverse that, but he found himself begging for longer, to avoid that farewell. "Don't leave me, Tooru ..." He clenched his jaw, his tears began to fall more insistently.

“I would live everything again if I could.” The man spoke. His arms moved to hug the wolf's head, then resting his cheek on it. His breath hit one of the youkai's ears, so Tooru only had to whisper to make himself heard. “Hajime.” The wolf closed his eyes, wishing that time would stop. “Thanks...”

The hands that hugged him went limp after that. The breathing in his ear stopped. The motionless body was still leaning against his back, but the radiating heat gradually disappeared.

That night, Hajime howled until he lost his voice.

The next day a grave appeared in that place. Weeks later, villagers found it, in their search for a certain missing old man, and seemed to guess whom it belonged.

The years went by. The grave was almost completely forgotten, as well as the identity of its owner. But the rumor that a large black wolf takes care of it still travels between humans and youkai alike.


End file.
